The True Importance of Keeping Kids Active

Many of us are well aware that it is important to stay active. After all, it is relatively common knowledge that physical activity and health are strongly intertwined. However, many might not understand the increasing importance of keeping children active. The truth is, it is even more important to keep children active than it is to remain active as an adult. Below, we will be going over some of the reasons it is so crucial to keep children regularly engaged in healthy exercise and physical activity.

Maintaining a Healthy Weight

While it might seem obvious, having children maintain a healthy weight is key. The more physically active they are, the better their weight will be. Despite this being relatively obvious, a lot of children are becoming increasingly inactive. This has led to child obesity becoming much more prevalent in our society. To underline this, the World Health Organisation has suggested that it is likely the UK will become the most obese country in all of Europe by 2030.

This immense rise in obesity is expected to lead to a subsequent rise in heart disease and various other health-related issues like type-2 diabetes. These are only a few of the different examples of some of the reasons keeping children physically active is so important. While it can be argued that older adults need to be just as physically active as kids, the foundation of activity that is laid as a child will generally dictate not only your health but your activity as you age.

Muscle and Bone Development

Children as pre-teens and teenagers develop at a much faster rate than adults. Because of this, the first couple of years during the adolescent stage can define both your health and your body’s development going forward. Children that are much more physically active are much more likely to develop healthy bone and muscle structure. This can have a direct positive impact on a child’s health and it can make them much less susceptible to various injuries and diseases like osteoporosis.

One of the main reasons children are decreasingly active has to do with the rise in technology and the important role it plays in children’s lives. The rise and usage of technology among younger individuals has led to a subsequent decrease in physical activity and a rise in obesity. One of the physical effects it has had on the younger generation is a negative impact on posture. The constant looking down at smartphones has led to children developing poor posture and posture-related issues. While it is not the singular cause of concern, the increasing usage of both smartphone and tablets is guaranteed to negatively impact children for years to come because it is constantly putting them into unfavourable and unnatural seated positions and it is discouraging physical activity at the same time.

Mentality

Another issue that a lot of parents will tend to agree with is the correlation with less activity leading to lazier adults. Those that show less of a willingness to participate in physical activity end up developing a mentality that sticks with them long into the future. After all, the more we repeat a habit, the harder it can be to break. The less active children are and the more they rely on technology, the less social and the more isolated they will become. This can lead to a mentality of being anti-social and much lazier.

As mentioned above, it can be difficult to say with a degree of certainty how much the new realities of the new digital age will impact future generation’s health, it is easy to see that the health of the general population is deteriorating in conjunction with the rise of mobile smartphone and technology usage. Because of this, it is easy to see how things are only going to get worse as children become increasingly dependent on technology and less and less active and social in their daily lives.